The present invention relates to an information recording apparatus for recording information on a recording medium such as a DVD, an information reproducing apparatus for reproducing information recorded on a recording medium such as a DVD, and an information distribution system including an information recording/reproducing apparatus for charging for use of information recorded on a recording medium or distributed through a network or by broadcasting.
In recent years, the advance of digital information processing technology and communication technology such as a broadband ISDN, and the development of an advanced information recording medium such as a DVD which realizes a large capacity and high-quality image and sound are progressing. Along with such development of a variety of advanced information transmission means, the circumstances are allowing users to make use of an enormous number of digitized works which are distributed to the users through a network, a recording medium, or the like. These circumstances increase opportunities for copies and alterations without permission of authors or distribution unintended by authors, so copyright holders are anxious about infringement on their benefits.
An important challenge for wiping out such anxiety of copyright holders is the development of a system which allows quick and easy distribution of digitized works and provides a fair digital information usage environment assuming protection by copyright.
A DVD is a large-capacity personal computer medium replacing a CD-ROM, and various applications to movie, music, game, karaoke, and the like can be expected. For popularization of DVDs, inexpensive DVD titles or spread of a rental DVD market is expected. From these viewpoints as well, it is essential to provide an information distribution system assuming protection by copyright of information, i.e., a system based on a concept of charging not for possession of a digitized work recorded on a recording medium such as a DVD but for use of the digitized work.